Today I was inspired to write a product review post about the Prang Oval Watercolor sets after using them to create a few projects recently. I was so surprised by how much I loved this watercolor set that I knew I had to share it with you!

A few days ago I was browsing Pinterest and came across this pin that I knew I wanted to recreate with my Fall Leaves stamp set, however, I wasn't sure exactly how I would achieve the watercolored look. Distress markers weren't giving me the vibrancy I desired so I reached for my Prang Oval 16 Watercolor set and was amazed by the results. I will be sharing the finished project in a future post so make sure to check back soon for that!

The Prang Watercolor sets contain either eight or sixteen pots that are manufactured with a semi-moist formula. The paints can easily be activated with a spritz of water. I used my Mini Mister to add a few drops to the colors I planned to use. I was so surprised by the formula of these paints as they allowed me to create both vibrant and subtle looks depending on how much water I added.

When your brush is drier you tend to pick up more of the solid paint on your brush which will give you a more vibrant look. If your brush is more damp you will sheer out the color. I found that even when sheered out, these watercolors were much more pigmented than most.

The watercolors are contained within a hard, plastic casing that can act as a palette for mixing colors when opened. I used the grooves that were manufactured into the inside cover to act as dividers between colors that I mixed myself. It is so convenient to have a make-shift palette built into the packaging!

These sets also come with a watercolor brush, however, I personally like to use my own as they are of a higher quality than the one included in the set. Also my brush had a more dense tip so I was able to get more control over the paint.

As mentioned above, these watercolor sets come in two different sizes: 8 colors or 16 colors. I have the 16 color set, however, the smaller set will work just as well.

Included in the 8 color set are your basic shades: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, brown, and black. Included in the 16 color set are all the colors in the 8 color set as well as the following: red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, turquoise-blue, blue-violet, red-violet, and white.

I thought I would include a picture of a swatch chart I made to show you the difference between all the colors. I scanned this color chart into my computer so, of course, you lose a little bit of the vibrancy. I would also like to mention that my favorite color, red-violet, is much more red-toned in person than it shows up to be here.

As you can see, the 8 color set has all the basic colors that can be found in almost any watercolor set on the market. The 16 color set, however, has such unique colors that work perfectly on their own or when mixed with other colors from the palette.

When I first started using this palette, I stuck to the basic colors and was happy with the results. It wasn't until I dipped my brush into the additional colors, specifically the red-violet, that I knew this palette would become my new go-to watercolor set.

I found the colors in this palette to be very refreshing and unique from other watercolor mediums I own. After a while you become so used to using the same colors over and over, whether they be the Distress products, etc. and I found so much joy in dipping my brush into various colors that I had never used!

Having a self-contained palette also makes it easy to create your own colors. I would pick up a little of one color and place it on the inside cover and pick up another color to mix it. I found that I was able to get a ton more colors out of my palette than just the ones pre-made. It also made me feel like an actual artist to mix my own colors...so fancy!

When comparing these watercolors to other mediums, I found that the Prang ones tend to be more potent and almost like a paint even when mixed with water. With the same amount of water added, I found that other mediums tend to become too washed out. I also found that because of the potency of these paints, they were able to cover a large surface area without having to pick up any additional color. They seriously are like a water-soluble paint!

I have already created a few projects with the Prang Watercolor set (and they are surprisingly DIY projects) and I plan to share them here very soon! I want to put together a few more things before I share them here.